Rage rises at phone sales pests

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A rise in complaints about nuisance phone calls has prompted the
NSW Government to consider toughening the rules governing telephone
marketing and door-to-door salespeople.

The complaints follow a wave of telephone spruikers operating
from call centres in India and other countries.

A year after new laws on telephone marketing took effect in NSW,
the Fair Trading Minister, Diane Beamer, says they may have to be
brought into line with Victoria's legislation, which says
door-to-door sellers cannot visit on Sundays and telemarketers
cannot ring after 8pm on weekdays, after 5pm at the weekend and not
at all on public holidays.

In NSW the only ban is between 8pm and 9am seven days a
week.

Cooling off periods for deals agreed to over the phone are five
days in NSW and 10 in Victoria.

In Victoria, to stop energy retailers falsely asserting that
people have agreed to switch suppliers, written copies of contracts
must be sent to anyone who accepts a deal over the telephone.

Victorians can cancel contracts if they have not been properly
informed about the terms.

Yesterday, the NSW Fair Trading Office released an options paper
on reforms to reduce high-pressure sales techniques and intrusive
telemarketing.

However, the NSW and Victorian governments say the Federal
Government should keep its election promise to introduce a national
do-not-contact register.

"A similar register has been legislated in the US to allow home
owners to opt not to receive any form of unsolicited direct
marketing by mail, telephone and other methods," Ms Beamer
said.

The Victorian Consumer Affairs Minister, Marsha Thomson, said:
"The Federal Government agreed to work on the register but now
consumers are suffering because they have failed to deliver on
it."

A report by the Federal Privacy Commissioner in March also
recommended a national register.

A spokeswoman for the federal Minister for Communications, Helen
Coonan, said the Government was considering a range of options to
deal with telemarketing in response to the Privacy Commissioner's
report, including how to set up a register.

She said the Government had to balance the interests of
marketers and consumers.

"There are a number of Australian jobs tied up in that industry
as well," the spokeswoman said. "There are legitimate purposes for
telemarketing; there are also nuisance calls that also come from
overseas."

The Australian Direct Marketing Association keeps a voluntary
register for people to sign up to if they do not want to be
contacted by telemarketers.

But this means those who sign up will not be approached by the
association's members. They are not protected from other companies,
including the ones most likely to annoy people.

The Fair Trading Office said that as more businesses entered the
telemarketing industry, the number of complaints rose.

Ms Beamer said the NSW laws helped but the Federal Government
was in a position to offer "real protection" to consumers.

"Individual states are developing practical and effective laws
to deal with telemarketing but the cross-border nature of the
industry provides an added complexity," she said.